Emory Oral History Program: Home P

On-Campus Projects

Underrepresented Voices at Emory:
We are continuing to invite people to interview for the Emory Oral History Program's Underrepresented Voices series. If you identify as a Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, First-Generation college student/grad, or First-Generation American and would like to share your stories and experiences, please sign up for a pre-interview to learn more.  
Sign up here for pre-interview meeting to learn more and participate.

Sustainability and Environmental Change:
The EOHP is inviting people to share their experiences with sustainability and climate change. Our first chapter in this project encourages people from the Emory community to interview and share their history and relationship to sustainability and environmental change, aiming to ground climate change and the pursuit of sustainability in lived experiences.  
Sign up here for pre-interview meeting to learn more and participate. 
 

Stories During the Coronavirus Pandemic:
How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted you? The Emory Oral History Program is collecting stories from the Emory community about lived experiences during the coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak and ongoing pandemic. Bearing witness to this unprecedented event and sharing our thoughts and experiences offers tremendous value. We invite anyone who considers themselves part of the Emory University Community to share their oral history. 
Sign up here for pre-interview meeting to learn more and participate.  

Information and Support

The Emory Oral History Program welcomes everyone to express their different experiences. Sometimes these stories may include traumatic events. While our role and responsibilities are to help you tell your stories as you choose, we are not professional psychologists or therapists. Here are resources for information and professional support:

• Emory Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): click here
• Emory Faculty Staff Assistance Program (FSAP): click here

Community Partnership Projects

Oxford/Covington Community Oral History Project

The Oxford/Covington Community Oral History Project records and preserves the first-person stories of individuals who consider themselves part of the Oxford and Covington communities. We aim to document the lived experiences of community members, which provide insights into the social, cultural, and historical fabric of the region. The project began by interviewing members of the Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, including long-standing African American families in Oxford. As we expand, we aim to record a broad range of perspectives to preserve the community's diverse heritage and history. We welcome all members of the Oxford and Covington communities to participate in a one-on-one oral history interview

Sign up here for pre-interview meeting to learn more and participate.

Clarkston Community Project 

The Clarkston Community Oral History Project aims to record and preserve the stories of people in Clarkston, Georgia. As a welcoming, diverse, and energetic city, Clarkston's history provides a unique representation of urban transformation in the greater Atlanta area. Our project invites all people who consider themselves as part of the Clarkston community to share their experiences through one-on-one oral history interviews. With participant consent, we will preserve a mosaic of voices and provide open access to the recordings for students, researchers, teachers, and the engaged public. Your stories and history are important!

Sign up here for pre-interview meeting to learn more and participate.

What is Oral History?

Oral history interviews are a dynamic process of co-creation whereby individuals' lived experiences are recorded in their own words and as they choose to narrate them. The interview is the cornerstone of oral history, a guided exercise that is usually conducted in a one-on-one setting. The oral historian and the narrator together investigate living memory and create a resource that can help others to understand the impact of social phenomena on people’s lives from a personal perspective. The Emory Oral History Program (EOHP) aims to preserve the stories and experiences of people with a broad audience in mind. We approach oral history as a humanistic method of discovery that incorporates technology and archival practices with the goal of better understanding our communities and the world we live in.

For more information please refer to the Oral History Association’s resources here.